My myomectomy experience: Going home

I've heard of other women having a morphine drip, but Yale Medical Center, they did not give me one. I white knuckled it until it was time to take the catheter out, then I caved in. Here's what happened...

Between 6 - 8 am I tried to get some sleep but I felt a weird feeling, as if my bladder was full. Strange since the catheter was in place, right?! I tried to sleep but that all too familiar feeling that happens right before the pee-pee dance takes place was getting stronger. I raised the back of my bed up and decided to investigate. I pushed the button to call the nurse. In my raspy voice, I told her that the catheter was as full. She said o.k but no one ever came. The pressure in my bladder was getting painful so decided to figure out what was going on myself.

My myomectomy experience: Overnight at Yale

Although I was extremely drowsy, I remembered to have
hubby get my satin bonnet. I was not about to mess up
my mini twist on these non-satin pillows.

The first thing I noticed after surgery was that my voice was sore. I didn't sound like myself. The breathing tube made my voice hoarse and raspy. By this time, it had been over 24 hours since I last ate. I wanted food. My friend Ayana made some homemade cookies for me. I desperately wanted them down my sore throat and in...to...my...belllly. The nurse gave me the cafeteria menu. I had hubby order stir fry vegetables over rice for me since my voice was all weird. She proceeded to show me a few other things that were waiting for me on my rolling table.

My myomectomy experience: Getting Ready

Today is the first day that I feel like my brain is able to focus enough in order to write.

Thanks for all the text messages, emails, phone calls, etc. I tried to keep up with them but, I have not been able to get back to everyone. Please forgive me. I am thankful to each of you that have reach out to me, said a prayer for me or even just thought about me. The first few days post-op are rough and I think I underestimated it all.

I was tempted to make this a short and sweet post, but as someone that has recently gone through this (actually I'm still going though this), I thought it might help another woman finding herself in a similar circumstance, should she happen to find her way to these series of blog posts. Let's start the day before surgery.

Saving money on the daily

Saving money is an active part of my day-to-day life. Listed below are some additional things that I do in order to save money. Please feel free to share your money saving tips below.

• I still utilize the library. I have an Amazon Fire and I love it but sometimes e-copies are more expensive then paperback (Amazon doesn't tell you that).
• Sites like Groupon and SweetJack are a great way to save money. They offer excellent discounts on a variety of things ranging from dinners, spas, electronics, etc. It's a great way to get more money for your buck.
• I bring lunch to work with me on most days. There are days that the cafeteria is serving something that I really like so I treat myself to it. But paying .44/oz for lunch can become quite expensive.

Giving yourself a fun allowance

As cliche as it might sound, the saying "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" is very true. Swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction is very tempting when you are trying to get your finances in order but try not to become obsessed to the point of not enjoying any of the fruits of your labor.

Every week that I got pay, I took $25 to buy something that I didn't need but enjoyed. It ranged from cd's to lipsticks. It was my small way of enjoying some of my hard work and discipline.

As eager as you might be to get on the straight and narrow, you have to give yourself some room to flex. Here's another cliche that holds true "Everything in moderation".

Just because you are tighting the belt, no one has to know. Instead of spending $20 for a pedi, go ahead and buy a bottle of good nail polish and do it yourself. Perhaps going to the movies is your thing. Catch the matinee and enjoy yourself.

Donating blood to myself for surgery

I am scheduled to have an abdominal myomectomy on October 12. My surgeon informed me that I might need a blood transfusion because sometimes patients loose a lot of blood during the surgery, therefore I decided to donate my blood to myself.

I met Winsome, RN, at the Yale Apheresis Center on October 1 for my first donation. I'll have to make two donations before my surgery, so I'll be back there on October 8. Not only was Winsome a strict professional but she made me laugh and I felt confident in her skills. Boy did she get on my tail for not eating breakfast before donating but once she checked my blood count, twice I might add, she decided it was safe for me to donate that day.

When someone loves their job, it makes a world of difference. While I'm out recuperating, I will be doing a lot of thinking about perusing more things in life that make me happy. I have my fair share of "would of, should of, could of" just like everyone else, but I'm hoping to throw more caution to the wind and allow myself the freedom to dream a bigger dream for myself. I don't care if all I do is shoot photos and make YouTube videos, if it makes me happy and I'm not hurting anyone, why not do it?

The upside to giving my blood is that I get to eat a bit of red meat to replenish my iron. I went to Whole Paycheck Foods over the weekend to get a steak. It's the only place that I know of that has 100% grass fed, no hormone, no antibiotics meat. One thing is for sure, at $22.99/lb, I definitely will not be a regular meat eater but good Lawd, did it taste good.